


Morning's Light

by denilmo



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, M/M, Verse 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28458516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denilmo/pseuds/denilmo
Summary: Ignis was always meant to guide Noctis, and he would defy fate to see him to the ending that they all deserve.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 3
Kudos: 51
Collections: Ignoct New Years Gift Exchange 2020





	Morning's Light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blackstyx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackstyx/gifts).



> I was your giftee this year, styx!! I hope you like it. May 2021 be a better year (and still include many ignocts)

Ignis was always meant to  guide Noctis, to keep him from standing still. Everything he had ever,  _ ever, _ done had been for Noctis. But it wasn't as if it felt unfair, difficult sometimes certainly, but never unfair. Even the times that Noctis was moody and pushed his buttons, he knew he was only able to do so because they knew one another so intimately. Noctis apologized more often than not (though they both could have a stubborn streak) and they continued on, side by side. 

Ignis tried not to fault him, for as much stress as he faced, he knew that Noctis' looming future of becoming king placed a lot of weight on his shoulders. Watching his father deteriorate didn't help matters either. Noctis was angry, and unsure, and so Ignis was his encouragement, his optimism. It wasn't part of his job, but Noctis needed it. Gladio pushed, kept him focused. Prompto listened and distracted, reminded him he was just eighteen. 

And Ignis was his pillar. It seemed cliché, but he felt it true. He was dependable, he was structure and routine, he was sure. Who better for Noctis to lean on? Many times Noctis did. Sometimes they talked and sometimes they didn't. Whether it was a quiet drive in the middle of the night when words would only get in the way or simply weren't needed... or making a Saturday night just for each other to watch movies and be the young men, the friends, they were without title or responsibility. Just one another like when they were kids.

Ignis was always meant to guide Noctis, so on one of those nights when Noctis fell asleep and Ignis was left tucking him in, he was struck with the sudden (but certainly not new) thought of how handsome he looked. Unguarded. Peaceful. Heat rushed to Ignis' cheeks as he briefly wondered how warm his lips would be. 

Then he hastily stood and whispered a goodnight before leaving. He finished tidying up Noctis' apartment, another thing he didn't  _ have _ to do, but did anyway. He often chastised him about the cleanliness of his apartment and how it would be scandalous if people knew. Plus, Ignis would not have the person he loved be labeled a slob. Even while he nagged, on the inside there was a part of him that did all these extra things - the cleaning and cooking and sewing - to show not only his dedication, but his love for Noctis. It was one of the only ways he could love him after all. 

And then a couple short years later, it was  _ the _ only way to show him. Noctis was to wed Lady Lunafreya. A farce, a show of good faith, a trap - Ignis wasn’t quite sure what the real motivation behind the engagement was, but he had little time for that at the moment. He had a duty to Noctis, and he would see his friend to the very end of it. He’d promised Noctis, in his apartment for the last night, reassured him, that he would always be at his side. He watched Noctis smile, relieved, and he felt relief, too. 

Until they’d left the city. Until they'd lost their homes, and their families, and their friends. It was always easy to proclaim your loyalty to someone, to tell them you'd stand beside them through anything. And then  _ anything _ became something that none of them could have ever imagined. But Ignis loved Noctis, perhaps not in the way that he wanted to, but that didn’t make his love any less. Upholding his promise was important, it was how he could still say ‘I love you.’ 

Ignis let his touch linger on Noctis' head once, sleeping like the dead after he'd acquired the first of the Royal Arms, and vowed that he would not waver. Pillars are strong after all.

But they crack. Sometimes they're demolished. And Ignis made the choice he felt was best, and left Noctis in Altissia. Went with the man who had orchestrated everything - even offering to go with him. Ardyn had planned it and executed it flawlessly. But the only thing Ardyn hadn't counted on was just how much Ignis loved Noctis. He would do anything for him. He would die for him, even if it was in vain. And the Gods gifted him for such a sacrifice. 

And again when he got to be near Noctis once more. To hear his voice (even if it was in a plea to save him), to feel his touch, to  _ see _ him as he stood before the Crystal, determined and ready. It felt too late to say that he loved him, but he would never forget hearing it. So one look, it was all they had - all the years they had spent together, all of those unsaid words, filled Ignis to the brim. It was a promise. He would be that pillar for him when he returned. He held onto that feeling for as long as he could. 

As he began to research and travel and investigate, he clutched that feeling tight. It took everyone, everyone that they'd crossed paths with, but they'd all helped in some fashion. Ignis took the helm and organized everything. He didn't know how long they had and time was precious. Ten years somehow wasn't very long at all and yet it felt like forever, a lifetime even, once the sun was blotted out. Still, he stood strong. 

Getting that message, that it was time to go home, filled Ignis with excitement and dread. He was anxious. He was ready. His heart was not; his heart hammered and stuttered when Noctis walked in, when they locked eyes. Ignis had a promise to fulfill. 

They explained everything to Noctis from scientific breakthroughs to discoveries made in the royal tombs. They all took turns, hashing out the plan to him, letting all the pieces click into place. They could do this, and still have their King. They'd sacrificed enough, hadn't they?

The afternoon before their departure, Noctis called Ignis aside, and for a moment he worried that their king would protest their plan. What if it didn't work? What if it didn't save the world, just postponed the end of it? But instead Noctis took his hand, looking every bit of thirty years old, his gaze even older as if the crystal had aged his very soul. But Noctis only smiled at him. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Ignis… not everyone could come up with a plan to defy fate.”

“Your fate is to bring back the light. Mine is to aid you in doing so… I’ve simply come up with a better plan than you sacrificing your life.”

“I’m ready to,” he said softly and looked back down at his feet. “But seeing you guys again… makes it hard...”

Ignis took a deep breath as he came to stand beside him. “I’ve no doubt in you. The only other time I’ve seen you look so… ready… was when you stepped into that crystal. I know you’ve made your peace, but none of us are ready to lose you, and I won’t accept any talk of it. Lucis will need her King when this is over.”

“Ignis-”

“ _ We _ will need you,” he interrupted as he looked to meet Noctis’ stare - so dark and deep, endless like the ocean. “I need you.”

Noctis’ hand was warm and firm in his, squeezing. “I’m here, and if this plan of yours is like the other ones you’ve come up with, I’m not going anywhere.”

Ignis felt a warmth well up in his chest, his lungs burning with the words of things gone unsaid for ten years - much longer than that if Ignis was being honest. He found himself warring with the idea of telling him, of confessing his love and why it was so important to have him by his side. “Noct…”

“Hey! There you guys are!” Gladio called after them. “Come on, our window is closing. We gotta move.”

“We’re coming!” Noctis replied before smiling again at his long time friend. Maybe it was the lack of lighting, maybe it was Ignis’ own wants, but he could’ve sworn he saw something soft and hopeful in Noctis’ eyes. “What were you going to say?”

Ignis forced everything back down, locked it away under the steady beat of his heart. “It can wait.” What was another day after a lifetime? Besides, they had much more important matters to see to.

The fight to the Citadel was taxing, and though they’d been out of practice with one another, there was a sort of familiarity that came roaring back to life, like the elemental magic Ignis imbued upon his daggers. Ten years in a crystal had done little to Noctis’ abilities, in fact to Ignis he seemed stronger somehow. As they all made it, Ravus passing on the Sword of the Father to Noctis, Ignis had hope. This was going to work. He would see Noctis upon that throne, alive and well and happy - not cold and unresponsive as he’d been shown in those terrifying visions.

Getting separated was not something he had counted on, but he trusted Noctis - they all did. And they fought where they could, however they could, to aid Noctis, to see their plan to the very end.

It was odd when the daemons stopped coming, when bullets and blades pierced through dissipating miasma, roars of anguish echoing and fading.

“Is it over?” Prompto asked, panting and sounding every bit as anxious and relieved as Ignis felt. “Please tell me it’s over.”

“You think that means we won?” Gladio followed up, resting the side of his sword against his shoulder.

Ignis still  _ felt  _ connected to Noctis, and he dismissed his daggers to the Armiger with a crystalline flourish. That was a good sign. “We must find Noct.”

Prompto nodded eagerly and Gladio followed suit, dismissing his weapon and smacking Ignis on the back. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, and the trio set out in search of their friend. It had been so long since they’d been back, their fair city in shambles after the attack and a decade of darkness where Ardyn had run free. It was difficult to pass places that held such fond memories now vandalized by daemons. But they could rebuild, start anew, because that’s what people did.

“Noct!” Prompto’s voice cried out, sliced through Ignis’ thoughts, and the blond dashed ahead of them. Gladio grabbed Ignis by the sleeve and started to run after him, leaving Ignis no choice but to keep up with him. 

Prompto barreled into Noctis for a hug, nearly knocking him off his feet. His sobs of relief echoed within Ignis' ribs; he was so incredibly happy, too. Gladio smiled, hastily wiping at the tears that weren't falling before he wrapped his arms around both of them. Noctis looked up and Ignis was pulled into the depths of his eyes as his feet carried him forward. He joined the hug, his head pressing to the temple of Noctis' as he felt tears prick at his eyes. 

Noctis' voice was quiet but strong as it lifted from the middle of their crushing hug. "I love you guys."

Prompto was quick to respond. "We love you, too." 

Then something incredible happened. The miasma's disappearance allowed morning's first light to break the clouds on the horizon, to stretch across buildings and sidewalks, to touch the shoulders of four friends. 

"Guys…" Gladio breathed out as he stepped back, pulling away his embrace.

"The sun," Prompto said in awe. "We did it… we really did it!"

Wondrous colors filled the sky - lavenders, pinks, and oranges - layered and blended brilliant as golden light spread. Ignis closed his hand around the fingers that curled over his palm, and he closed his eyes as he felt the sun's warmth for the first time in so many years. He could hear Prompto celebrating still, Gladio's excitement nearly as unrestrained, and he smiled. They'd worked so hard for this, sacrificed so much, nearly  _ everything, _ but here they were -- together. 

Fingers brushed against his cheek, at the tears that had slipped free without his permission, and Ignis looked over at Noctis. And promptly had the breath stolen from his lungs at how beautiful his king looked bathed in golden light. Noctis' lips twitched into a small smile as his hand lifted again and wiped at Ignis' other cheek. "Iggy…"

With that familiar utterance of his name, Ignis broke. He pulled Noctis close and captured his lips with his own. So many things passed between them in that moment as they both acknowledged the words never said between them. Never said but always felt. Ignis felt warm inside and out, and the happiness that bloomed from his chest couldn't be contained. 

He pulled away from the kiss with a smile, a smile that Noctis echoed, and he felt him squeeze his hand.

"Get a room," Prompto teased and then yelped as Gladio tossed his arm around his neck and ruffled his hair up. 

"It's about time," he said with a big grin. "But we still got work to do. Kiss and stuff later."

Ignis couldn't help but blush at being teased by their friends, and the soft pink of Noctis' cheeks was certainly a sight. He gave a small nod as he let go of Noctis' hand and reached to adjust the collar of his shirt. "He is right… we do still have work to do." He smiled and took a small step back. "Are you ready, Your Majesty?"

Noctis' eyes shined in the sunlight as he smiled at him. "With you by my side, I think I'm ready for anything."


End file.
